Monday, August 25, 2008

Fly, Big Girl, Fly

On Monday, Emma started preschool, and it has been a very.big.deal around here. Boss and I are not sure what school path our family will wind up taking (public, private, or homeschool), but we have loved the process of getting our little girl ready for school.

I copied one mama's idea of buying a key chain to put on Em's backpack, so that when she looks at it she will remember always that mama loves her. I chose a butterfly, because my baby is now flying without me for the very first time in her life.

The first day of school was a smashing success, but leaving your baby does something strange to your heart. It hurts. If we do not homeschool, yesterday was the ending of an era. An era that consisted of staying in our jammies as long as we wanted, snuggling on the couch watching cartoons, having mama's helper as we picked up the house, having a constant chatter box by my side. It was the ending of an era where I was her whole world. Where family and home were all she knew. And while you know your little one does in fact need to test out her wings, you still want to be there to catch her in case she falls. It is hard to let go. Last night when I was tucking her in to bed, I said, Em, I am so happy that you like school. To which she replied, Mama, I don't like school, I LOVE school! Looks like my baby's wings are working just fine.